The Houston Astros defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 last night. They picked up another game in their division race thanks to St. Louis losing 7-5 to the Padres. That makes 7 games the Astros have made up in as many games. They are on the verge of completing a great comeback. The Astros are 1.5 games out in the NL Central with just a handful of games left.

Two Wild Card hopefuls—Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers—go at it today. The Houston Astros have won six straight games and find themselves miraculously just three games out in the Wild Card race. The Milwaukee Brewers are a little bit further back at six games, but they are still in the hunt. There are only a few weeks left in the season, so both of these teams need to start making their push now. Houston is right where they want to be for a push. The Brewers can’t afford to lose at this point. While they are 6 games out, they are also trailing eight other teams. Basically, they’ve only got a prayer.

How can you fall apart, go 3-7 over your last 10 and still have a lead in your division? It’s possible when you play in the National League Central. The division is simply horrible. The Cardinals have been getting loss after loss handed to them, yet they still have a 2 game lead over Cincinnati. However, the fun stops here. Rival Houston is just 3 games back as the two clubs begin a series today. Houston is a -130 favorite and the Cardinals are a +120 dog. The under/over is 10.

Finally the wait is over. Roger Clemens has officially announced his return to baseball. He’s coming back to Houston—as expected by many insiders. A few days ago Houston denounced a rumor that he was coming back—we can see that was a fib. The Astros are still in the hunt for the playoffs and the contract they gave Roger Clemens shows just how desperate they are for pitching.